Glaciers Melt into Massive Waterfall Amid Record Heat... From Blackouts to Mass Protests

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Heatwaves have gripped the entire Northern Hemisphere. In Central Europe, which is recording historic high temperatures, glaciers are melting, while in Tunisia, Africa, prolonged blackouts and water outages caused by extreme heat have triggered large-scale anti-government protests.

Reporter Yu Deok-gi has the details.

[Reporter]

A massive waterfall has suddenly formed in the glacier region of the eastern Austrian Alps.

Austria's largest Pasterze Glacier is melting away under the worst heatwave on record.

Temperatures in some parts of eastern Austria hit 41.2°C (106°F), setting an all-time high.

[Markus Lackner / Austrian National Park Employee: The temperature here is rising up to 30°C right now, which is abnormal. As a result, the glaciers will disappear a bit faster.]

Heatwaves are also continuing across Eastern Europe.

As water levels in the Danube and Rhine rivers running through the region rapidly drop, river transport and fishing are facing serious disruptions.

With a shortage of cooling water for power plants, electricity supplies are also being restricted in countries like Austria and Hungary.

A record-high temperature of 41.4°C (106°F) was also measured in southwestern Slovakia.

The heatwave has also swept across North Africa.

In Tunisia, North Africa, where temperatures soared to 45°C (113°F) amid an extreme heatwave, large-scale anti-government protests involving thousands of young people broke out.

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When authorities implemented rolling blackouts and water outages due to a surge in cooling demand, the grievances of citizens exhausted by economic hardships, including high inflation and unemployment, finally exploded.

Major global meteorologists are warning that heatwaves will become even more intense due to a super El Niño.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.